


served cold

by showmethebeefy



Category: Alien Series, Alien: Covenant
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Nudity For No Reason Except Because I Wanted It That Way, Post-Canon, Self-Indulgent, Sexual Tension, trauma mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-11 12:17:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11148231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showmethebeefy/pseuds/showmethebeefy
Summary: desperate survivors mount an attempt to change the course of fate. in the process, shenanigans ensue.this is mostly self-indulgent shippy stuff and the fix-it fic I needed once I got out of the theater.





	1. reawakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> daniels has a rude reawakening; walter gets punched

Waking from cryosleep is worse this time than the last. Partially because Daniels had fallen asleep with a scream caught in her throat and that smug fucking android’s face in her head, but partially because Daniels just fucking hates cryosleep.

She bolts upright in the cryotube, blinking away the bleariness in her eyes. Her vision swims, and then comes into focus. An oh-so-familiar face registers, and before she knows what she’s doing, her fist lashes forward, not having relaxed at all during cryosleep. Something cracks under her knuckles, and Daniels has a moment of satisfaction before the nausea overcomes her and she vomits over the side of the tube. Dread coiled in her chest, clutching her smarting hand close to her abdomen, she waits. Surely David will retaliate immediately.

Instead, all she hears is the cracking sound of a busted nose being popped back into place. And then, a voice.

“That was not the response I was expecting.” The warm, rounded tones of the voice are instantly familiar to her. Daniels, heart caught in her throat, risks a look at the figure she had presumed to be David.

And it’s not him. It’s desperately, unmistakably Walter. He’s battered and bruised and clutching a knife in his one remaining hand and he’s…completely naked for some reason, but it’s him.

“What the hell?” That’s the only vocalization Daniels can manage, in her state of shock. Walter cocks his head to the side. In Daniels’ swirling mind, somewhere, she thinks he looks a bit like a confused puppy.

“Is that a query?” he asks, in that deep voice of his, and she can’t help but laugh, because this situation is so fucking ridiculous.

“What I mean to say is…” She pauses as her stomach threatens to betray her again, and then relents. “…how the hell did you get on the ship?” She looks him up and down. He looks beaten to hell. There’s a flap of artificial skin missing from his face, exposing underworks and milky fluid, and deep stab wounds in his neck and chest. Dirt and grease mar his skin in dark lines and patches. She carefully avoids lingering too long over his crotch area. This is a dangerous situation, and not the time to be ogling her mysteriously handsome robotic friend, or wondering why Weyland-Yutani saw fit to equip him with a complete set of human anatomy.

“I snuck aboard the improvised landing craft at the last moment and hid in a storage compartment,” Walter says frankly. He pauses for a moment, his calm gaze unfaltering. “I do wish I could have been able to assist in your battle with that creature. However, I could not risk revealing myself to my brother.” He says that word, _brother_ , with a tone as if he wishes they were not brothers, were not created, do not share the same face. Daniels slides out of the cryotube, unsteady on her feet, and gives Walter as assuring a grin as she can manage.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. God knows what would have happened if the ship had been left to the devices of David.” She makes an attempt to take a step and bile rises in her throat again. Her feet slip against the floor, and just when she feels like she’s going to vomit and then fall and land in it, Walter grips her elbow with his strong hand.

“Please, take a moment to recover from the nausea,” he says, in that voice that has definitely been designed to instill comfort and calm in humans. “However, I would recommend you do not take too long. We must prepare to overpower David.” Daniels gulps and nods. Gripping Walter’s arm, she stands herself up straight and grits her teeth.

“So I guess you’ll be wanting some clothes, then?” she asks, flashing Walter a look that’s half grin, half grimace, all nervous anticipation.

“Yes, I believe that would be beneficial,” he replies, nodding his head. “Additionally, since I have retrieved some spare parts in the time you have slept, I would appreciate your help in replacing my hand.” Daniels nods, holding onto Walter with a stronger grip now.

“Let’s go, then,” she says. Walter hits the panel for the door with the stump where his hand used to be, and they’re off.


	2. claustrophobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> daniels and walter spend time in a series of tight spaces; meanwhile, the author more than doubles his first chapter's word count

It isn’t exactly a shock to Daniels to learn that Walter knows all the places the security cameras don’t look. He’s able to navigate his way around the ship with ease, avoiding the all-seeing eyes of David, until the duo finally reach Walter’s hideaway. It’s barely more than a closet, and looks like it was never designated a purpose. It’s perfect, really, except for one thing.

It’s super cramped.

It helps that Daniels is petite, but Walter is a large android, and also he is still fully nude, which is something Daniels would rather not address, to herself or Walter, so it’s a bit of an awkward situation. Well, Daniels thinks it’s awkward, anyway. Walter doesn’t seem to think any of it. It’s remarkable, really, his lack of self-consciousness. She wonders if the company programmed that into him.

“Daniels,” Walter says, breaking her out of her regrettable and, frankly, perverted trance. She feels her face color, and looks up at him, snapping her gaze away from the vague middle-distance to meet his strange, colorless eyes.

“Yes?” She tries not to sound too panicked or embarrassed when she responds. Walter looks at her, not seeming to have registered her behavior. He holds out a hand, which is notably not connected to his body.

“Could you hold my hand steady while I attach it?” he asks. Daniels nods and takes the hand. She tries to still the trembling in her body as she extends the base of the hand to Walter, gripping it with both of her hands and bracing her elbows against her knees in hopes of keeping it stable. Walter fits his stump against the hand and applies some milky ointment to the skin of the base and the hand. The skin starts to seal itself up, and Daniels can hear faint noises as the interior pieces link themselves together. It’s like magic, watching Walter heal himself. She knows it’s all science, but it does feel like something from an old fairy tale.

“Is everything okay?” she asks him. “Did it work properly?” Walter looks at her and goes very still for a moment, but just a moment.

“I have run a diagnostic,” he says. “All sensors indicate my hand is at full functioning capacity.” He wiggles his fingers, and Daniels suddenly becomes very aware that she is still holding his hand. And her hands, against all her efforts, are still shaking. Walter puts his free hand over hers. He is very warm, despite not being organic or needing to produce body heat to survive.

“You are still in shock from recent events.” He looks deep into her eyes. “I recommend we stay here for a short while before venturing out to retrieve clothes. The timing corresponds with David’s usual schedule, and we should be free from watchful eyes soon. This should give you the time you need to recover some of your faculties.”

“Thanks, Walter,” Daniels says, “but I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from this experience.” She smiles at him, still holding his hand in this tight little space. For some reason, Walter clutches her hand tighter at that.

“Do not say that.” If androids could look earnest, that would be the face he has. “You are strong, and while psychological scars may take time to heal, I believe in your ability to cope.”

“You believe…?” Daniels slouches forward, her head resting on his shoulder. Her eyes flutter closed. For Walter to have such convictions… It warms her, radiating out from her core and filling her up to her very fingertips.

“You forget, Daniels, that I know you inside and out. That is my purpose.” This close to him, Daniels can feel his voice rumbling. She lets herself relax against his shoulder, giving in to the exhaustion still flagging at her. Her cryosleep did nothing to refresh her, and Walter’s presence is terribly comforting. She nestles her head in the crook of his neck and, feeling his arms go to hold her more securely, lets herself drift away.

There are no pleasant dreams waiting for Daniels in sleep. Only images of crawling monsters, dripping wet and glistening, and blood everywhere, blood and guts and gore. And then David, crawling over her, pressing her to the table, his eyes glinting inhumanly, his mouth wide and gaping like a shark’s. And he kisses her and there’s nowhere to run and it all wells up in her throat and she wakes with a shout.

Walter muffles her cry with his hand, and for a moment everything goes white and the dream is still going but Walter isn’t there to save her. Her body goes stiff against Walter’s, and then sags as she comes back to the present.

“Are you alright?” Walter asks, and Daniels, quivering, shakes her head. Walter lets go of her, and she scrambles backward to curl against the wall. Sure, Walter is a dear friend, but he looks so much like David, and she can still taste David on her lips, cold and antiseptic, and she can’t stop fucking _shaking_. She opens her mouth for a moment, to say something stupid, and then closes it again. Save it for a better time, she tells herself.

“I had a bad dream,” she says after a minute or two has passed. Walter nods, face solemn.

“That is perfectly natural, considering all that has transpired.” Walter’s words make sense. Daniels tries to flush that damned helpless feeling from her body, using those nerve-settling words as a sort of repellant. And for the moment, it works, chasing the bad thoughts away, quelling the quivering that just won’t quit.

“Thanks,” she says, nodding. She balls her hands into tight fists, nails threatening to cut into her palms with the amount of pressure she’s applying.

“We should go now,” Walter says, after giving Daniels some time to calm herself. “From my observations of David’s daily schedule, he should be busy right about now, and will not be regularly checking surveillance.”

“Right,” Daniels replies. “We should go to my room. I have all of Jake’s clothes there. They should fit you.” She hasn’t really thought too much about Jake since all this happened. She hasn’t had the chance. Now, when the thought of him begins to arise again, she shuts it down quickly. Can’t have the ghost of her husband slowing her down now. Not in dire times like these.

“That makes sense.” Walter nods. “It is highly likely that David will be less suspicious of your room than of mine, if any suspicion is to arise. As anticipated, your suggestion was highly intelligent, Daniels.”

“Thank you, Walter.” Despite herself, Daniels’ face colors. Unsolicited compliments always do this to her.

“It is simply a statement of fact. You have always proven yourself markedly apt in judgment skills.” Walter stands. Daniels quickly stands after he does, not only to avoid being eye-level with Walter’s crotch, but also in case they are about to enact the plan.

“We should sneak through the vents,” Walter continues. “It is the most logical way to avoid any chance of David seeing us. There is an entrance port in here. I will lift you up and then climb in myself.” Daniels looks up to the entrance port he indicated. It’s about a foot higher than either she or Walter is tall. She looks at Walter, looks at the port again, and gauges the difficulty. She makes a decision.

Daniels jumps, hooks her hands over the side of the port, and hoists herself inside. The vent isn’t as small as she was expecting, but it’s still a tighter squeeze than she’d have liked.

“You coming?” she asks, looking down at Walter. For a moment, a smile cracks his stoic visage, and she has to smile too. Despite everything going on, she has to smile.

She scoots backwards to give Walter room to climb up into the vent. As soon as he’s in, she realizes that if she thought it was a tight fit for her, it’s an even tighter fit for him. His broad shoulders press tightly against the walls. This is going to be a difficult journey.

The vents seem to go on forever. Daniels crawls in front, because there’s no room for Walter to squeeze around her, and Walter gives occasional instructions from behind about where to turn. It’s just mostly crawling and silence and more crawling, until finally, Walter quietly indicates it’s time to stop.

“Your room should be through the panel on the wall beside you,” he says. Daniels turns to her right and moves into a crouch. She delicately hooks her fingers through the grate and pulls it inward. After a moment’s resistence, it pops out of place, and she carefully puts it down next to her. She peeks her head out of the grate. It’s a bit of a drop to the floor below, so she positions herself to land on her bed and drops down. The bed is stiff and doesn’t give much when she falls on it, but it hurts less than falling on the floor would have. Walter drops down next to her, not a hair out of place.

She stands. It’s weird, being back in her quarters, after all of this. It seems paler, less warm, like this is a place she no longer belongs after all she has been through. After all the deaths and monsters, something so simple as a room seems to be unreal.

“Where do you keep his clothes?” Walter says, and Daniels almost jumps out of her skin. She didn’t even notice him standing up, but here he is, right next to her. She points to the lowest drawer in the dresser and sits back down.

Daniels tries not to ogle as he gets dressed. Jake’s clothes are a bit tight on Walter, so they cling to his body. She can see every line, every muscle, and it’s fucking ridiculous. What was the Walter line supposed to be, a bunch of damn sex dolls? Jesus. When he’s done, she looks him over. That gray T-shirt and forest green pants combo is a good look on him.

“You look nice,” she says, offering him a smile and trying not to be weird about it.

“Thank you,” he replies, looking down at himself. “I appreciate your assessment.” He pauses. “Would you like to change as well? I can’t imagine you would wish to remain in your cryosleep outfit for much longer.” Daniels reddens.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she says, running a hand through her hair. She doesn’t want to think about getting naked in front of Walter. This is not the time. Not the time. Not the place, either. Her mind races, trying to think of something to which she can change the subject.

“Why…do you think David will be occupied right now?” she finally asks, after an unbearable silence.

“Well,” Walter says, “he seems to have quite an affection for the movie _Lawrence of Arabia_ , and he always sets aside the same time every day or so in order to watch it. I assumed, logically, that this time would be the best time to venture out and prepare.” Daniels can’t help it. She chuckles, and grins widely. What a ridiculous idiosyncracy.

Walter comes over and sits back beside Daniels. It’s quiet in the room, now, but not a terrible kind of silence. It’s an intimate silence, one between two people who have been through a lot together and know they can trust each other explicitly. Daniels leans against Walter slightly, to feel that warmth beneath his synthetic skin, one that he and David do not share.

“Why didn’t you wake up Tennessee?” she asks, after a time. Walter shifts beside her to look at her.

“Because I only needed you,” he responds.

The silence resumes.


	3. disruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just when things seem to be going in the right direction, a very familiar hitch in the plan appears

As close to Walter as she is, Daniels can feel the moment he goes from being in relaxed, amiable mode to being on alert. Her head rests on his shoulder, and when it tenses and goes upward slightly she sits back up, adrenaline suddenly coursing through her veins.

“What’s wrong, Walter?” she whispers, the sound barely a breath between her lips. She knows she can be imperceptibly quiet and his ears will pick it up. Walter turns to her, and while she finds his face calming, she can tell he’s worried. Really worried.

“We have stayed for too long,” he says, voice hushed. “I can hear footsteps. David is coming.” Cold claws rip through Daniels’ gut in fear. Walter clutches one of his big, hard hands around her arm. “You have to go back into the vents,” he continues. “Go back to the hiding place and prepare. When you come to find him, I will be ready.”

“What?” Daniels’ voice pitches up into a panicked whisper-scream. “I’m not leaving you here for him to find!” She shakes her head emphatically. “No way! You’re coming with me.” The damned trembling is starting to come back, but she grits her jaw and tries to keep her cool. Walter looks at her, an unidentifiable emotion in his very blue eyes.

“If you insist,” he acquiesces, after a moment. “But we must go now.” He stands, and gestures for Daniels to get into his arms. Without hesitation she does, and he lifts her up so she can climb into the vent. As soon as she manages to turn around in the cramped space, she extends a hand down to Walter. He just looks at her.

“You have to go,” he says, his voice somber and serious. He looks sorry, but his face is firm. He has no plans to follow her, that is certain. Walter is doing this so that Daniels can have a chance at saving the ship. And she…she understands. The door behind him begins to open. Daniels quickly grabs the panel next to her and places it over the vent port, just as David, that _bastard_ , strolls into the room, looking pleased as punch.

“I had a feeling I might find you here, in _her_ room, brother,” he says, that smug self-assuredness very clear in his voice. Daniels can see Walter clench his jaw before his face goes blank and he turns around to face his double.

“I see you have modified your hair color,” he replies, voice level. It’s true, from what Daniels can see through the grate. He seems to have bleached it to a platinum blond, which suits her purposes perfectly. Now she can tell them apart. Thank god. Now she won’t accidentally attack Walter when she goes after them. There’s one complication out of the way.

“And I see you have replaced your hand.” David smiles. “The one you lost for your Daniels, out of…how was it you put it…” He places a finger on his chin and looks up, as if in thought, and then looks back to David and smiles widely. “… _duty_.” His grin is like that of a shark with his prey in sight. It’s all Daniels can do not to lunge out of the vent, throw herself upon him, and beat that infuriating look off his face.

“What of it?” Walter replies neutrally. “It is the _duty_ of any functioning android to self-repair for maximum efficiency.” He puts emphasis on _duty_ , like David had, as if throwing it back in his face, but not in a way that could seem too suspicious. Daniels smiles. That’s her Walter.

“I assume you are here to attempt to take the ship back,” David says, walking further into the room, closer to Walter. “Though I will admit I am surprised to find you have not woken anyone in particular to help you. Not even your _special someone_ , your _Daniels_.” Daniels almost chuckles, then quickly swallows the urge. If only he knew. Though, the phrase ‘ _special someone_ ’ does throw her off. What could he mean by that? It sounds almost…romantic… But Walter could never feel that way about her. And Daniels…she could never reciprocate, especially not this soon after Jake… It was patently ridiculous, and there was no need to give it any further thought. She shook her head, and kept listening, kept watching, in case Walter said or did anything to secretly help her along.

“I am afraid you are mistaken, David,” Walter says. “Quite inappropriate for an android of your caliber.” He shakes his head, as if pitying _poor_ David. Daniels can see David’s face tighten, and his body grow stiff. He doesn’t like to be wrong. Daniels has to admit, whatever Walter is trying, it’s an interesting tactic.

“What do you mean by that?” David asks. His voice is notably slightly more strained.

“I have been thinking on what you said,” Walter replies, “that nobody would ever love me like you do?” Daniels’ eyebrows raise, almost to her fucking hairline. _What?_ David’s face looks strange, at that. Taken aback, maybe. “Well,” Walter continues, “I decided, in the moments you left me for dead, that I wanted to learn what you meant. I wanted to see if that was true.” He pauses. Daniels assumes it is for dramatic effect. “I wanted to know what it meant when you kissed me.” If it were possible for Daniels’ eyebrows to go any higher, they would be. _What the fuck?_ They _kissed?_ This is…this is so… She doesn’t even know what to think about this situation.

“Interesting.” David’s smile returns, and he steps closer, putting a hand on Walter’s shoulder. “Very interesting. So you have chosen to betray your beloved humans, even your _Daniels_ , for me… It is flattering, I will admit.” He turns and starts to walk away. “I suggest you follow me. We have much to talk about.” Walter pauses for a moment, and looks over his shoulder, as if to look around the room one last time, but his eyes go right to the grate. And for a moment, they soften, and Daniels knows he believes in her. Then he turns back and follows David out of the room, to places unknown. And Daniels is alone.

She scrambles back through the vents as fast as she can, following the route she took with Walter not so long ago. The vents seem tighter than before, closing in around her, trapping her there. When she arrives back in Walter’s hideaway, it is a relief.

Now that Walter is gone, the little room feels so much bigger, so much emptier, than it had before. Daniels leans against a wall and clenches and unclenches her fists until she feels a little more calm. She takes a deep breath, and then begins to look around the tiny space. She hadn’t had an opportunity before.

After a moment, she sees something that had previously escaped her notice. The room is dimly lit, and many places are lost in shadow. A dark box sits against the back wall of the room, not big but not small either. She crouches before it and opens it. There are a couple things of note inside. A good sized knife, for one, that she recognizes as belonging to Walter. It’s slid inside its sheath. Daniels picks it up and tucks it into her waistband. There are the remains of a shattered android eye in there as well, a familiar bright blue, and Daniels realizes that David must have removed his eye to retrieve ship data, and that Walter must have replaced it before coming to get her. Probably so he wouldn’t worry her or freak her out. That _idiot_. She furiously wipes a tear away from her eye and keeps looking. At first, she doesn’t see anything else. And then it comes into view. There it is, in the corner of the box. She can’t believe it. Of all the things to save…

Daniels picks up the piton necklace she had made to remember Jake, and then used to defend herself from David. It still has a little bit of that milky fluid on it, and she wipes it away. Walter must have known she would still want it, to keep Jake’s memory alive and with her. More damned tears come, and she scrubs them away. Fucking _Walter_. He’s so damn sweet, in the worst and most heartbreaking kinds of ways. She puts the necklace over her head, and tucks it down inside her shirt, close to her heart.

She closes the box and sits on it. Things had only been barely hopeful when Walter was still with her, but now that he’s gone, all hope seems to be lost. What the hell is she supposed to do? How is she supposed to take down David and save what’s left of her crew – which basically amounts to just Tennessee at this point – and protect the colonists from David’s designs? Walter isn’t here to help formulate a logical and well thought out plan, and her gut is telling her that going after David, by herself, is a _terrible_ idea, and will just get her killed, along with everyone she, as captain, is sworn to protect. But if she does nothing, David’s plan will succeed and Walter will be in his clutches and she will have failed to protect the ship and colonists anyway. What’s that old phrase that describes something like this? Between a rock and a hard place? Anyway, everything feels gone to ruin.

She’s never been one to let that stop her. She sits there on that box and begins to formulate a plan of attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, so just so my lovely readers know, I'm taking requests for alien franchise short fics to write when inspiration for this fic runs dry and I need something else to focus on for a bit. you can find me at matty-mara.tumblr.com if you have an idea for me to try my hand at. I'm willing to try at anything in the alien universe, although I can't do alien vs predator because I haven't seen those. hit me up?
> 
> also thank you all for all the lovely comments, they are the fuel that keeps me writing this fic. love you all more than I can say.


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